The National Public Radio program "This American Life" profiled Chicago's Harper High school in a powerful two-part series in March. Today, Michelle Obama will visit the South Side school to take part in a discussion about gun violence in the city.

President Obama, in his State of the Union speech Tuesday, called attention to the sad tale of Hadiya Pendleton, the innocent 15-year-old girl gunned down by gang gunfire in a case of mistaken identity and yet another tragic bit of Chicago gun violence.

An armed man storms on to a bus loaded with school children and, at gunpoint, demands that the bus driver turn over two children. The bus driver refuses and tries to stop the armed man. The armed man shoots the driver, killing him, then grabs one of the children as the others flee. The armed man takes the 5-year-old child, who is autistic, to an underground bunker on his property where a week-long crisis begins. As negotiators try to convince the man to release the boy, they are allowed to deliver toys and medicine to him via a pipe to the bunker. Finally, after managing to lower a hidden camera into the bunker, officials are alarmed by what they see and storm the bunker. The kidnapper is killed, either by agents or by his own hand, and the boy is miraculously rescued, unhurt.

It's a tense, dramatic story, one that seems like it would captivate a nation just as it was captivated by stories like a girl who fell down a well. Had it happened in a large city - New York, Dallas, even, God forbid, Chicago - the coverage would be constant, a 24-hour surveillance with every media outlet descending on the city. A story that touches on all the socio-political hot points in the wake of the Newtown tragedy - gun control, safety of school children, mental health - would surely draw nation-wide, if not world-wide, attention.

But it didn't.

The above story really happened and, for the entire week the crisis lasted, few Americans were aware of it at all.

If you're not familiar with Kyle, there's a few reasons why this should be shocking - aside from the fact that it's the sad loss of an American hero.

Kyle was a sniper. The former Navy SEAL, author of American Sniper, was maybe the deadliest U.S. warrior ever, earning him the nickname "Devil of Ramadi." Credited with 160 confirmed kills - 255 claimed - in his career with SEAL Team 3, the decorated vet had become something of a celebrity in recent years, a staple on the talk show circuit and himself a host of his own show.

In a statement emailed to AOL site Daily Finance, spokesperson Julie Mossler pointed to the company's desire to take stock of what it offers in its daily deals model:

"All scheduled and current gun-related deals featured on Groupon North America, including shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry and clay shooting, have been placed on hiatus while we review internal standards that shape the deal inventory we feature. The category is under review following recent consumer and merchant feedback."

Daily Finance reported that at least one Texas gun store owner is fired up and calling for a boycott of Groupon over the perceived slight against the second amendment and law-abiding gun owners. Michael Cargill, the owner of Austin's Central Texas Gun Works, is looking to rally the troops and get in Groupon's collective face:

"I'm asking everyone in the Second Amendment community to boycott Groupon, because the message they're sending is, 'Look, we do not want to support law-abiding citizens taking time out of their schedule to learn the safety surrounding firearms.' "

Reaction on social media ranged from the predictable - railing on both sides of the gun debate, accusing the company of mucking with the Constitution or congratulating it for taking a stand - to those who were basically just surprised to learn Groupon had gun deals.

Since @groupon bans gun related deals now, I say goodbye to a company I used to like & recommend all do the same. #tcot#tgdn#guns#2a

Groupon had come under some criticism for its firearms offerings following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown. The company did not supply further statement late Monday upon a request from a Sun-Times reporter. No further details on the decision or CEO Andrew Mason's role in the move were made public.